I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
by Redshifted
Summary: Bruce has been on the move ever since Harlem. Keeping a low profile as best he can while he tries to help those in need. A dark night, several people dead and a transformation into the Hulk is just the beginning as he meets an amnesiac girl with strange powers and a questionable grip on sanity.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: A rather violent introduction

A/N: Well, hello readers. This is the first part of my first story ever. Just looking for some feedback, constructive criticism and whether or not I should continue.

Warning: There will be violence, mature themes and language.

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You shouldn't be walking alone at this time of night, no, actually, people shouldn't fucking attack other people any time of day.

-Tumblr user harrysgettinhead

In retrospect, getting involved in anything that could raise one's blood pressure was something Dr. Bruce Banner tended to avoid. Unfortunately, having a sense of duty to help others in need resulted in more than a few unsavory encounters.

The current predicament he found himself was of the milder ones. A gang of slightly intoxicated young men had managed to corner a girl in her late teens in a dark parking lot.

A call earlier that night for his aid in helping a neighbor with a badly broken arm was really the only reason for Bruce's being there. But there he was, and it was his moral duty to intervene.

He began approaching the group but before he could say anything the girl attempted to step away from the men and the one standing closest to her grabbed her arm. Bruce opened his mouth to speak when the man holding the girl pulled a handgun out and pistol whipped her hard across the face.

Bruce felt a wave of anger overtake him and he began to lose focus. Before he blacked out completely he could have sworn he saw the girl hurling the man who had hit her across the parking lot to collide with a wall.

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The girl had felt no fear when the men had approached her. She had found it almost laughable that they thought they could harm her with no consequences.

A slight twinge of remorse was replaced by impassiveness as she reversed the man's hold on her and threw him at a nearby wall.** (****_Impact estimated 70 mp/h, multiple bone fractures, dead on impact.)_**

The other three stared in shock but were quickly shaken from their daze as a roar reverberated around them. A large green creature grabbed one of the remaining men by the leg and smashed him against the ground, **_(broken leg, dead on impact) _**killing him instantly.

The girl rapidly recovered from her surprise as well and moved to dispose of the other two. She struck one in the chest, **(broken sternum, multiple broken and/or bruised ribs, internal bleeding)**. She followed up with a strike to the head, **(shattered skull, severe brain damage, internal hemorrhaging)**. The other had tried to run but was blocked by the creature.

The girl ripped off part of the hood of a nearby car and ran toward the last man before he could move. She slashed her improvised weapon through his throat, causing blood to spurt out, (**arterial bleeding**) staining the man's shirt a deep scarlet. He let out a wet gasp before dropping to the pavement and succumbing to his injury.** (COD blood loss.)**

The large green creature turned his attention to the girl as the last man fell still. She looked up at him and a look of delight crossed her face.

"Well this is new," she pointed behind the creature "if you want to get out of town, that way's the fastest."

The creature grunted and turned around. She watched in curiosity as he leapt away, reaching hundreds of feet into the air with one jump.

The bodies of the slain men were scattered across the dark lot in various states of mutilation. The girl walked over to the placed where the first man had grabbed her and picked up the gun he had dropped. **(9mm Taurus PT 111 pistol, Double action semi-automatic, magazine capacity 12 rounds.) **She quickly checked the magazine.

_11 rounds left, in great condition _and_ it's a Taurus. Sweet! _

A quick search of the bodies came up with a gun holster, another magazine, this one full, a single phone that had not been smashed,** (Samsung A523, GPS, battery life 20 days in standby) **no small amount of money, credit and debit cards.

_Not bad, not bad. Drunk college dickwads though, good riddance._

She glanced back in the direction where the creature had fled. She could have sworn he had emerged out of nowhere. There had been no one but a man with curly hair...

_No, it's possible. After all just take a look at yourself. You don't even know what you are._

She looked down at her hands and sighed.

_I tried, I really did. I killed them quickly this time though. That's got to count for something. Anyway, they shouldn't have been trying to hurt anyone. Just because I could defend myself doesn't make it right._

**8% of college man have either attempted rape or successfully raped. 30% say they would rape if they thought they could get away with it. 58% say they would rape when the wording was changed to "force women to have sex." 83.5 argue-**

She blinked rapidly and shook her head to try and dispel the images and information-

**"Isn't that awful though? It's a sad world we live isn't it." Blue eyes and a sad smile, a feeling of warmth and safety. "Go to college, get a degree and fix it if you're that upset." A pixie hair cut and sharp voice that somehow held affection. A crackling fire, wood paneling on the walls, those stupid pictures of-**

She was jerked back to the present by the sound of sirens in the distance. Turing around she ran out of the lot and made her way through the dark alleyways out of sight of the main roads. Her mind raced.

_Where did that come from? When did that happen? Who are those people?_

_Who am I?_

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A/N: Again, not sure if I'll continue but I'd love to know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

Bruce woke up gradually, first noises filtered in, birds chirping and leaves rustling, then the sensation of lying on something cold and uneven. He groaned and slowly blinked his eyes open.

_What happened? _

He slowly sat up, his head pounding. His mouth felt like it was filled with cotton balls and he was in a wooded area with very few clothes. Either he'd had one hell of a night on the town or the Other Guy had made a guest appearance. He was leaning towards the latter at that point.

He remembered helping a neighbour with a broken arm late at night. Walking to his apartment. A group of men surrounding a teenage girl. One grabbing and hitting her...

He grimaced, it was coming back now. He had Hulked out, the rest was a blur. The only question remaining was, had anyone been hurt? Even killed?

Glancing around he noticed that there was a pile of clothes lying on the ground near him. He frowned and looked up again, there was no one in sight. He picked the clothes up; a short sleeved purple shirt and worn jeans. Better than nothing

He looked around. He was sitting in the middle of the woods. There was no sign of human activity aside from him and the girl.

The girl in question had a laptop on her lap and was happily clicking away. She had short dark brown hair in a pixie cut and while taller than what could be considered average, she wasn't giant. She was wearing a black jacket and cargo pants with shoes that looked like hybrids between hiking boots and sneakers.

She glanced up at him and he noticed she had sharp grey eyes. To be honest, that was the only thing that really stood out. Even her facial features were average. She smiled brightly.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty. You've been out nearly the entire day."

He stared.

She sighed, "I didn't follow you just for kicks you know. That little commotion's got the whole town buzzing. We gotta skedaddle before they trace it back to us."

Bruce recovered his voice, "Little commotion?"

Her mouth quirked up on one side as she turned the laptop around so he could read the headline.

GRUESOME MASS MURDER IN QUAINT COLLEGE TOWN, NO LEADS.

A feeling of dread filled Bruce, "How many are dead?"

"Four" She replied, "The cops are stumped. No one can figure out how one person could possibly have hurled another person against a wall hard enough to kill him. Let alone smash someone into the ground, that one was messy, let me tell you."

Bruce swallowed hard, guilt spreading through him as he listened.

He knew the Hulk had killed people before but seeing the headline and hearing the girl's descriptions of their deaths made it worse somehow. He was a danger to everyone around him. A monster. A living weapon. What was he thinking being around so many people? Any number of things could go wrong and just look at what happened when they did. He should stay away from larger populations, maybe live in the wild...

He was so lost in his thoughts that he nearly missed what she was saying.

"Of course it's only a matter of time before they find a security camera with a view of the crime scene or pull some fingerprints off whatever I touched and seeing as we're now partners in crime we might as well stick to- hey, you're looking a little woozy. You're not going to faint on me are you?"

She put the laptop to one side and knelt in front of him.

"Hey, hey. Don't panic. It wasn't you, you didn't do this."

"No," He got out, "I did, this is my fault."

She bit her lip, looking conflicted. Bruce put his head between his knees and tried to control his breathing. He could feel his heart rate speeding up. Not again. He'd even doing so well, nearly five months since an incident. Until now at least. After a minute of trying his breathing still wasn't under control.

"I killed them!" She burst out.

He looked up in shock, "What?"

She seemed surprised at what she said but after a moment she took a breath and continued, "I'm the one who killed them. I mean, you got like, one, but I would have killed him anyways and he probably would have died slower if I had..."she trailed off, an expression of guilt and distress on her face.

Bruce tried to wrap his head around what she was saying.

"You, but. I don't understand"

She winced, "Damn, well, without going all Twilighty on you, look."

She stood up and walked over to where she'd been sitting before. A dark blue duffle bag was laying there. Opening it she took out a crowbar, of all things. Walking back over to Bruce she handed it to him.

"There, try and bend that."

"Excuse me?"

"Just do it"

He obediently tried to bend it and, as expected, nothing happened. She grabbed it from his hands and held it out, horizontal with a hand on either end.

"Watch carefully" She instructed him.

And without further ado she effortlessly twisted the crowbar into a U shape.

Bruce blinked. That was impossible, no one was that strong.

_The Other Guy is just as strong. That wouldn't even faze him._

He reminded himself of that fact and took a second look at the girl. Nope, completely ordinary. Except for the fact that she could bend solid metal like it was clay.

Then again, he looked completely ordinary as well. Until he turned into a giant green monster. So how could she do that?

The girl bent the crowbar back to its former shape and set it back down.

"I don't know why, or how, but I'm like, really strong now. Fast as well."

Bruce shook his head, "How did this happen?"

She shrugged, "I don't remember, I know a bunch of other stuff though. Anything that isn't personal"

She paused, looking sad, "I can't remember who I am."

Suddenly, she brightened and picked up her duffle bag.

"We have to go now. Unless you don't want to come with? 'Cause I totally get that, but we'd be the most kickass team ever. No one would mess with us."

Bruce thought about it. In reality, having a companion would just increase his chances of getting tracked down and caught. However, there was a very simple reason for wanting to go with her. He was lonely. His current lifestyle meant that he never stayed in one place long enough to make friends and even if he did, he had to move on eventually.

_Who was she though? Did she have a family? Was someone looking for her?_

Still, questions would be asked. She had been at the scene of the crime. There might be physical evidence. Unlikely though it seemed there could have been a witness. She was now a fugitive as well.

Bruce shrugged, "I suppose there isn't really a choice is there?"

She became serious once again, "There should always be a choice."

She gestured for him to follow, "Come on then, if you're coming."

He smiled as he caught up to her, "So, do you remember your name?"

She shook her head, "No, I'll find a good one though, at least until I find out what my original one was."

Bruce recalled the computer that she had been using, "What were you looking at on that computer anyways, and how'd you get your hands on something like that?"

The girl laughed, "I was looking at Tumblr, if you can believe it. A few other things as well. As for the laptop, the guys I took down had some cash on them. It was enough."

Bruce looked at her incredulously, "Tumblr?"

"Hey, don't judge me okay. I got an account and you actually learn a lot that isn't in mainstream news."

They walked in silence for a few minutes until the girl spoke again.

"What do you think about Houston?"

"Houston?"

"Yeah, it has a big port and it's international. We could get out of the country pretty easily."

Bruce shrugged, "Why not? Any destination in particular?"

She brightened at his question, "Now that you mention it, Nigeria sounds like a good place to go."

"Nigeria it is then."


End file.
